


Snip

by girlsarewolves



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Lex is a little shit, Mercy doesn't deserve this, animated series background used for Mercy's cinematic background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7352125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What does one do with loose ends? (Mercy has never been one of Lex's virtues.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snip

**Author's Note:**

> Written after finding out more of what Lex's machinations were, and after seeing the extended scene of the kryptonite delivery where Mercy comes over and smiles. Feedback appreciated!
> 
> Warning: Some dehumanizing thoughts about Mercy.

* * *

Plans are all coming together, falling into place. The puzzle is slowly forming the bigger picture, and the god killing rock in a box is perhaps the most important piece. Lex can only stare at it for the moment - until _click, click, click,_ and Mercy is there.  
  
Beside him. Smiling at him. Feeling the same sense of ' _finally_ , we have it,' as him.  
  
Lex stares at her, and he can't smile back.  
  
Green is not her color.  
  
Sentimental is not his style.  
  
But it strikes him, like a palm against his face, the two-part realization - 'she has to die, soon' followed by 'this might hurt a little'.  
  
He always knew, really, he would have to tie her up in a neat little bow. This isn't a puzzle - it's a tapestry. And she's the thread that could unravel everything, really. Oh, there were other threads that would trail their way back to him - but they were frayed, easily brushed aside.  
  
Accusations might come, but accusations he could deal with. Bury. Like dear old dad had done over the years. All those lips loosened by pesky things like guilt and fear and remorse; Dad had found ways to silence them.  
  
Like loose strands of thread, clinging to his jacket. Pick them off, toss them away.  
  
Mercy is not any old loose thread. She's the seam. She comes out, it all comes undone.  
  
It has to be this way. He's been planning this for some time - he'll take out so many birds with one lead-lined bomb. Shame one of them is his, though.  
  
She's cute when she smiles. It changes her; makes her softer. Human. Sometimes she's so quiet and blank-faced he forgets she's not the perfect PA robot he forgot he'd built in whatever spare time he'd found before the world was upended.  
  
Oh, he's going to miss her. Her and her stiletto heels; _click click clicking_ behind him, beside him.  
  
("Do you know, the term stiletto heel comes from a type of dagger?" he'd told her, her first day on the job, when she'd come into his office wearing a cute pair of pumps with almost no heel, unlike the impossibly high-heeled boots she'd worn the day she'd stolen his briefcase - and earned her position. He never could understand how she'd been able to run in those, but oh, they were so very her. "Those long, pointy heels, like those long, pointy daggers. Now, my security team, they can wear weapons. My lawyer and personal assistant, on the other hand, well, that might seem a little suspicious."  
  
She wore heels every day after; he didn't so much enjoy looking up at her as he enjoyed the way she towered behind him at social gatherings, at board meetings, the like. Her stilettos and her sharp cheekbones and her sharp stares were intimidating where he was not. Early on, he'd needed that.)  
  
It isn't that he thinks she'll unravel given a good, hard tug. No, no, _no_ she's loyal to a fault. It's one of her best qualities; loyalty and lack of curiosity. And scruples.  
  
And legs for days, but that's neither here nor there, really.  
  
No, she's not a snitch. Mercy is a loyal girl - and that, right there, is her real weakness. Loyalty can be used against a person.  
  
He can hear that Southern drawl plying his secrets from Mercy with warnings that, "If you don't help him, he could get hurt," and, "He's going down for this one way or another. If he makes a deal, he'll get leniency." To be fair, if Senator Kentucky isn't taken care of, well, he might would be in trouble. But there will be others after her; oh, and what if a red cape wearing glasses corners her, or the giant bat comes a prowlin', or even pesky, persistent Lo' - there are too many variables. Too many possibilities.  
  
Eventually, she'd break. It wouldn't be a case of a conscience forming or fear for herself; no, she'd see it all come toppling down - because it could, there's always the potential it could. She owes him; for the job, for the apartment, for all the secrets he's shared, for that little bit of mercy he showed one day when a street thief had the guts to steal from him and the talent to nearly get away.  
  
He can't take that chance. Everything must go _right_ ; the picture must be completed.  
  
It will hurt. He'll get over it.  
  
She probably won't feel a thing. A good way to go; painless, quick. Maybe a second or two where she knows it's coming. Maybe not.  
  
Then, boom.  
  
("Oh, Mercy, you're irreplaceable, you know?" he tells her on the way into the senate, when she stops him to pull a loose thread from his jacket. It's not a lie. He smiles up at her, his pretty, perfect robot he won't be able to rebuild. He likes it when she wears her glasses; makes her look softer. More human.  
  
This is how he'll remember her.)

**Author's Note:**

> I love, love, love Mercy Graves a lot, and I am fascinated by the dynamic between her and Lex. I'm not really surprised at him killing her, especially since it's happened before, but I still don't like it. Here's hoping she comes back as an Amazon cyborg, PLEASE. (I am working on a fic of that, though, just in case the movies fail me in that regard.) I definitely took Mercy's background from the animated series and worked that in here, hence the reference to her stealing from Lex/getting hired by him because of it.


End file.
